Bill Kerrigan's 1931 Ford

The Kerrigan "A" undergoing a paint job shortly after Bill bought it in 1941. Photo courtesy of Spence Kerrigan.

A later photo of the roadster as it looked when Bill drove it to high school. Photo courtesy of Spence Kerrigan.

1931 Ford Model A roadster owned by Bill Kerrigan of Oakland, California. Bill bought the Model A from a dealer in 1941, and he had to pay $37.50 in order to become its rightful owner. After buying it, an older experience friend helped Bill replace the knocking timing gear. Bill cut down the bows for the top, and had a new white canvas top installed. Bill's brother Spence remembers he painted the car "orange peel" blue with something akin to a flit gun. Bill and Spence had access to a nice manufacturing shop owned by their dad's employer, so that's were Bill trimmed the rear fenders and installed some stainless steel extensions to partially replace the cut off ends. He removed the fender mounted tail lights and installed a pair of domed lights with chrome rings just under the rumble seat lid. The chromed radiator shell was replaced with a red primed 1932 Ford grille shell.

Bill, Jim Roberts and Charlie Leonard took the car to Yosemite one time, and it made the trip without incident. One dark night, while the car was parked at Avon Street, the top was stolen. Bill always blamed Dave Haffner.

When Bill entered the Air Corp, he sold the car to Russ Carlson. Russ and Charlie Leonard joined the Marines. While Russ was gone, his uncle replaced the A's rumble seat with a wooden box. It was also in a head collision while Bill's uncle had it. Charlie got shot in the butt, and he returned home from the Marines first. When Russ came home, he sold the wreck to Spence Kerrigan for $150.00. Spence had it towed from Walnut Creek. Back home he replaced the frame, radiator and other damaged parts. He also had the front axle dropped several inches, and the eyes on the shortened rear springs reversed by a blacksmith on High Street. He also left some spring leaves off. The car then sat much lower, but it was stiff. In 1946 Spence purchased brand new 1946 Ford backing plates, drums, shoes, wheel cylinders and a master cylinder from a dealer. He installed these and made new brake lines for the car in a garage next to Gram's apartment on Avon Street where he lived. He bought another exhaust manifold, and used equipment at his dad's shop to cut one end off each manifold and braze on plates to make a set of twin pipes with Smitty mufflers. He installed an aluminum intake downdraft manifold and a Stromberg 97 carburetor equipped with adjustable needle valves. An AutoPulse electric fuel pump was installed because the cowl mounted fuel tank did not provide sufficient elevation to properly feed the higher mounter carburetor. Spence remembers that Sam Cuckovich stopped by to check the progress on at least one occasion.

Spence did not get around to mount fenders on the car before he acquired a 1929 Ford Model A roadster pickup. It had a bad main and/or rod bearings. He used it to drive a young lady to a Halloween party in Berkeley on one cold night, and he drove it to the airstrip in Concord to watch a sports car race. Its knocking attracted too much attention. He removed the roadster pickup body and installed it in place of the roadster body. Spence's dad did not appreciate having the junk parked at the curb on Avon Street, so his buddy Bill Carash helped Spence dump the extra body and parts in the Oakland hills along with some of his accumulated junk. The Model A was not much for top speed, but it had an excellent acceleration. It was kinda bouncy as well, as Spence hadn't installed shocks. He never used it for transportation, just to play around the neighborhood. His regular wheels were a 1938 Buick coupe. He eventually sold the Model A to Warren Sturgeon. He drove it sans fenders until he could afford something with more class.